The Bell Hotel

The Bell Hotel is a guildhall or church house, now operating as a hotel, dating back to circa 1500. It has undergone extensions in the mid-16th century, the 18th century, and the 20th century. The building is timber framed, with some sections plastered and others clad in red brick laid in a Flemish bond pattern. The roof is covered with handmade red clay tiles, red clay 'Roman' tiles, and some slate.

The original main range comprises five bays facing southwest towards the churchyard, with a large axial stack situated one bay from the southeast end. A taller two-story wing, with attic space, extends towards the High Street from the northwest end, connected by a mid-16th century internal stack. A parallel two-story wing was added in the 18th century, forming a corner to the north. There are also three 20th-century lean-to extensions and one flat-roofed extension, all single-story, to the northeast of the main range.

The High Street elevation has a varied arrangement of windows, mostly 20th-century replacements, including one 18th-century bay window with splayed sashes of 12 lights on the northeast wing. A 19th-century four-panel door is located in the return wall of this wing, with a flat canopy supported by scrolled brackets, and five stone steps featuring wrought iron handrails and twisted square balusters. This wing has a projecting upper story with a heavily weathered carved bressumer and an overhanging gable also with a carved bressumer. The churchyard-facing elevation features a full-length jetty, now faced with red brick in Flemish bond. A large portion of this roof pitch is covered in 'Roman' tiles. The roof of the northeast wing forms a gablet above.

The building exhibits timber framing details such as jowled posts, close studding with curved tension braces trenched to the inside, edge-halved and bridled scarfs in wallplates, and square rebates for shutters in the wallplate facing the churchyard. Internally, the southeastern part of the main range has moulded beams and hollow-chamfered joists; the northwest end features chamfered beams, plain joists, and a blocked stair-trap, suggesting it was originally the service or entrance end. Tiebeams and storey posts are chamfered with mitred stops. The roof is ceiled. The northeast wing’s first floor is unusually high, with richly carved beams featuring spiral-leaf ornament, plain and roll stops, and square-section joists with roll mouldings and square stops.

Historical records indicate that the building was associated with the guild of St. Margaret, and a shop within the ‘Townhouse’ is mentioned in 1564. The 'ales' mentioned in an inscription within the parish church likely refer to fundraising efforts involving the building.